WINCHELSEA, ROBERT (d. 1313), archbishop of Can terbury, was probably born at Old Winchelsea. He studied in Paris, and was rector of the university at some period before 1267; he then taught at Oxford, where he became chancellor of the university in 1288. He held prebendal stalls in the cathedrals of Lincoln and St. Paul's, and was made archdeacon of Essex about 1283. In 1293, he succeeded Peckham as archbishop of Canter bury. His consecration, which took place at Aquila in Sept. 1294, was delayed owing to the vacancy in the papacy, but he found no difficulty in obtaining the temporalities of the see from King Ed ward I. Winchelsea is chiefly renowned as a strenuous upholder of the privileges of the clergy and the authority of the pope, and as a fearless opponent of Edward I. He assisted the barons in their
struggle with Edward II. by a frequent use of spiritual weapons, and took part in the proceedings against the Templars. He died at Oxford on May 11, 1313. Miracles were said to have been worked at his tomb in Canterbury cathedral, but extensive efforts to pro cure his canonization all proved unavailing.
See Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward II., edited with introduction by W. Stubbs (London, 2882-83) ; S. Birchington, in the Anglia sacra, edited by H. Wharton (London, 1691) ; and W. Stubbs, Constitutional History, vol. ii. (Oxford, 1896).